Paring knife



T. V. BAKER PARING KNIFE March 9, 1937.

Filed June 15, 1936 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS WITNESS Patented Mar. 9, 1937UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE f 7 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in paring knives for vegetables,fruit or the like and is designed as an improvement over my co-pendingapplication, Serial No. 85,378 filed June 15, 1936.

In my co-pending application a pair of knife blades are secured to ahandle for the setting of one relative to the other to predetermine thethickness of the parings to be cut and relatively arranged particularlyfor opposite manipulation or wielding by right and left handedindividuals.

The cutting blades are separate members and the settable one is slidablymounted in a separate socket on the handle for screw adjustment todifferent set positions.

My present invention is designed to provide a pair of cutting bladesrelatively settable in a manner similar to that described in saidapplication; and for the same purpose, but formed as a single piecestructure adapted for fiexing to effect the setting of the one blade.

: on the line 2--2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction indicated by thearrows,

Figure 3 is a view in front end elevation illustrating the knife set foruse by a right handed person and drawn to an enlarged scale, and,

Figure 4 is a similar View illustrating the knife adjusted for use by aleft handed person.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, my paring knife,according to my present invention, comprises a handle I preferablycylindrical, and formed of Wood, and provided with a reducedfront endportion 2 forming a shoulder 3 around said handle I spaced from thefront end thereof.

The cutting parts proper are formed as a single piece structurecomprising a cylindrical ferrule 4, formed of any metal suitable forcutting purposes, preferably somewhat resilient, and having a rear endportion fitting over the reduced 55 portion 2 of the handle I againstthe shoulder 3 and. a front end portion 4' extending forwardly of saidhandle.

The rear end of the ferrule 4 is secured to the reduced portion 2 by apin 5 passing through said ferrule and portion and upset at its ends. Apair of parallel cutting blades 6 and 1 respectively, transverselyarcuate and double edged, extend forwardly from the front and bottomedge of the ferrule 4 in side by side, spaced apart, relation uponopposite sides of the longitudinal center of the handle I respectively.In this position the blades provide inner bottom cutting edges 8 thereonopposed to each other and upper outer cutting edges 9. split at itsbottom throughoutits extended portion 4' as indicated at It], andtransversely split, as indicated at H adjacent to the front end of thehandle I to intersect the longitudinal split and to provide a freeportion l2 carrying the knife blade 1. As will be clear the free portionl2 together with the knife blade 1 are thereby adapted'for movementbodily with respect to the relatively fixed knife blade 6. Theknifeblade l is moved to different set positions in a'general directionat a right angle to the cutting plane 'of the stationary blade 6 topredetermine the thickness of the paring to be cut and by the followingmeans:

The longitudinally split edges of the extending part 4' of the ferrule 4are coupled together by means of a straight link 13 mounted upon saidedges to extend along the same and provided at its front end With aright angularly disposed lever I 4 extending between the blades 6 and 1across the outer end of the ferrule 4 and projecting slightly beyond thetop of same. The lever I4 is preferably extended between the blades 6and I through a notch I5 provided in said ferrule in the rear of thecutting edges 8 and'9. Thearrangement of the link I3 is such thatit""has a fulcruming action on the ferrule part of the stationary blade6 under movement of the lever M in opposite directions from a centralposition to thereby fiex the free or movable part' l2 of the ferrule,and hence, the blade '1'. The flexing movement'issubstantially"diametricallyof the handle in opposite directionsrespectively and in the direction relative to the cutting edge of theblade 6 previously specified.

The handle I4 is held in different set positions by means of a detentlug l6 thereon engaging teeth l'l formed on the front end edge of theferrule 4. The lever I4 is adapted to be flexed outwardly to disengagethe detent lug 16 from The ferrule 4 is longitudinally the notches I!and to spring inwardly when released to engage said lug and notches. Thesplit l 0 in the ferrule 4 may extend clear through the same to separatethe ferrule at its rear end, as indicated at I 0 so that said ferrulemay be fitted over the reduced portion 2 with a clamping action byspreading such separate ends apart.

By setting the lever M in one direction from a central position themovable blade I is correspondingly set as shown in Figure 3 so that whenthe knife is used by a right handed person the fixed cutting blade 6performs the cutting operation and the movable or settable blade 1 actsas a gage bar riding over the article being pared to determine the depthof the cut and hence the thickness of the paring. By setting the lever Min the opposite direction the movable blade 1 is set to perform theparing operation and the fixed blade 6 to perform the gaging operationas shown in Figure 4 so that the knife under such setting may be wieldedby a left-handed person. The top cutting edges 9 may be used for anypurpose such as trimming or the like. The front ends of the blades 6 andI are sharpened to cutting edges l8 for use in any desired matter.

It is believed that the foregoing description of my invention Willsuflice to impart a clear understanding thereof.

It is to be understood that the details described are illustrative ofthe principles of the invention rather than restrictive and that rightis herein reserved to modifications of such details falling within thescope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is: 1. A paring knife comprising, a handle, a ferrule ofresilient metal mounted on one end of said handle and having formedintegrally therewith a pair of parallel cutting blades extendingforwardly of said ferrule in side by side latterly spaced relation, saidferrule: being split to provide a free flexing portion carrying one ofsaid blades, and manipulative means for flexing said portion.

2. A paring knife comprising, a handle, a ferrule of resilient metalsecured to one end of said handle to extend beyond the same and havingformed integrally therewith a pair of parallel cutting blades extendingforwardly thereof in side by side latterly spaced relation, said ferrulebeing longitudinally and transversely split beyond said end of thehandle to provide a free flexing portion carrying one of said blades,and manipulative means for flexing said portion to different setpositions.

3. A paring knife comprising, a handle, a ferrule of resilient metalmounted on one end of said handle to extend beyond the same and havingformed integrally therewith a pair of parallel cutting blades extendingforwardly thereof in side by side latterly spaced relation, said ferrulebeing longitudinally split beyond said end of the handle andintermediate said blades to provide a free flexing portion carrying oneof said blades, and manipulative means for flexing said portion intodifferent positions.

4. A paring knife comprising, a handle a ferrule of resilient metalmounted on one end of said handle to extend beyond the same and havingformed integrally therewith a pair of parallel cutting blades extendingforwardly thereof in side by side latterly spaced relation, said ferrulebeing longitudinally split beyond said end of the handle andintermediate said blades to provide a free flexing portion carrying oneof said blades, and. manipulative means for flexing said portion intodifferent positions and comprising a rocking member fulcrumed on saidferrule and embracing one edge of said free portion, and a lever forrocking said member.

5. A paring knife comprising, a handle, a ferrule of resilient metalmounted on one end of said handle to extend beyond the same and havingformed integrally therewith a pair of parallel cutting blades extendingforwardly thereof in side by side latterly spaced relation, said ferrulebeing longitudinally split beyond said end of the handle andintermediate said blades to provide a free flexing portion carrying oneof said blades, and manipulative means for flexing said portion intodifferent positions comprising a rocking member fulcrumed on saidferrule and embracing one edge of said free portion, a lever for rockingsaid member, and cooperating detent devices on said ferrule and lever,respectively, for holding said lever in different positions.

6. A paring knife comprising, a handle, a ferrule of resilient metalmounted on one end of said handle to extend forwardly of the same andhaving formed integrally therewith a pair of parallel cutting bladesextending forwardly thereof in side by side latterly spaced relation,said ferrule being longitudinally and transversely split beyond said endof the handle to provide a free flexing portion carrying one of saidblades, and manipulative means for flexing said portion comprising, alink fulcrumed upon the opposed edges of said ferrule contiguous thelongitudinal split thereof and extending beyond the front end of theferrule and terminating in a right angularly disposed lever extendingacross and beyond the front end of the ferrule.

7. A paring knife comprising, a handle, a ferrule of resilient metalmounted on one end of said handle to extend forwardly of the same andhaving formed integrally therewith a pair of parallel cutting bladesextending forwardly thereof in side by side latterly spaced relation,said ferrule being longitudinally and transversely split beyond said endof the handle to provide a free flexing portion carrying one of saidblades, and manipulative means for flexing said portion comprising alink fulcrumed upon the opposed edges of said ferrule contiguous thelongitudinal split thereof and extending beyond the front end of theferrule and terminating in a right angularly disposed lever extendingacross the front end of the ferrule, said lever and front end of ferrulebeing provided with tooth and notch device, respectively, forinterlocking the lever with said ferrule in different positions of saidlever.

THOMAS V. BAKER.

